David Bowie’s New Video for “Blackstar” is Otherworldly

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David Bowie has always had a thing for outer space, going back to his very first big hit, “Space Oddity” back in 1969. Since then, he’s given us things like “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, and even played an alien inThe Man Who Fell To Earth. And the Bowie inclination for loving all things outer space must be genetic, because he clearly passed it on to his son Duncan Jones, who directed the modern sci-fi classic Moon.

Now David Bowie has returned to his otherworldly roots with his new music video for the song “Blackstar“. The new video is directed by Johan Renck, who is most well known for his work directing episodes ofBreaking Bad, and who has also made music videos for Beach House. The ten-minute short film opens on the craggy surface of an alien landscape, with a space suit lying on the rocks, the body of a dead astronaut inside it (is that you, Major Tom?)

Above the planet, the titular dark star shines down, and then things really start to get bizarre, and the video starts to resemble a Guillermo del Toro horror film more than a sci-fi one. As for the song itself, it doesn’t even begin to resemble a traditional song stucture till the five-minute mark. But that only makes it that much cooler.

Blackstar the album, which is his first in three years, is set to be released on Jan. 8, 2016, which also happens to be Bowie’s 69th birthday. The song “Blackstar” was also used recently in the British television crime show The Last Panthers, which was also directed by Johan Renck. You can check out the whole otherworldy music video above.

Are you excited for Bowie’s return to music and making videos? Let us know in the comments below!